Hundreds of NHS Forth Valley patients were treated in private hospitals during the first six months of the pandemic.
The local health board said it was part of a national arrangement and allowed urgent cancer treatment.
The figures were published by the Scottish Government in response to a recent Freedom of Information request.
The response revealed between March 2020 and September 2020, NHS Scotland spent more than £20.8 million on private facilities.
NHS Forth Valley was one of several Scottish health boards which used private hospitals for outpatient clinics, surgery and diagnostic scans.
Forth Valley patients were treated in private settings at BMI Kings Park Hospital in Stirling and Nuffild Hospital in Glasgow.
From March 2020 to September 2020, Forth Valley held 234 outpatient appointments in private hospitals - 28 at Nuffield and 206 at BMI Kings Park. During that same six-month period 331 patients received surgery in a private setting at BMI Kings Park.
And 84 Forth Valley patients were sent to Nuffield Hospital’s radiology department between March 2020 and September 2020.
A spokesperson for NHS Forth Valley said this national arrangement with private hospitals was used on a very limited basis.
The health board said its use of the private sector was lower during this six-month period compared with previous years.
An NHS Forth Valley spokesperson said: “This was part of a national arrangement funded by the Scottish Government.
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“Many NHS staff were redeployed to support the expansion of Covid-19 wards and intensive care facilities and this arrangement enabled local NHS surgeons to access operating theatres in private sector facilities to carry out urgent operations.
“The vast majority of care is provided in NHS facilities and the private sector is only used on a very limited basis to provide additional support for certain specialities, including treatment for urgent and suspected cancers.”
